Palin Ignored Leno's Crack on Bristol

Sarah Palin gets mocked, multiple times, by Late Show host

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno wasn't the only one with Sarah Palin this week on late night. The former Alaska guv made her way into David Letterman 's interview last night with Mitt Romney ("Be careful what you say about her," cautioned the former presidential candidate. "She has a rifle.") More importantly, Letterman debuted a new segment Monday—“Is It a Satellite Delay?”—using clips of Sarah Palin’s awkward pauses during live satellite interviews to great effect. Watch both clips in the gallery. More»

Lineup coup as Dave veers toward politics

(NEWSER) - With President Obama tonight and Bill Clinton tomorrow, David Letterman is starting his new season with a bang—and a marked shift toward politics, the New York Times reports. Letterman, who chose to lay low in repeats last week as NBC trotted out big guests for Jay Leno's primetime debut, is now making a strong play for the younger audiences Conan O'Brien usually wins. More»

(NEWSER) - David Letterman is handily beating his new late-night rival, Conan O’Brien, in the ratings—just not in some of the key, younger demographics. And that’s due to his singular, quirky charms, writes Peter W. Kaplan in New York, calling Letterman the “last grown-up on network television.” Unlike his erstwhile and future rival, Jay Leno, Letterman does not disguise his disaffection to satisfy affiliates. At 62, he is “the last American codger.” More»

(NEWSER) - David Letterman has apologized to Sarah Palin, daughters Bristol and Willow, "and everybody else who was outraged" by his joke last week about Alex Rodriguez impregnating the Alaska governor's daughter, TV Week reports. At this afternoon's taping of tonight's show, Letterman expanded on the apology he offered last week, saying. "It doesn't make any difference what my intent was, it's the perception." More»

Is Palin to Letterman what Hugh Grant was to Leno?

(NEWSER) - David Letterman's recent skirmish with Sarah Palin might be just what the late night host needs, reports the AP. Just as a repentant Hugh Grant, post-prostitution bust, launched Jay Leno into the ratings stratosphere in 1995, so might the Palin flap put Letterman back on top. And her timing is impeccable—all eyes turned toward Dave as new rival Conan O'Brien entered his crucial second week. More»